You failed to mention a dog as a crime deterent. Not fool proof, but a nice addition to any defense system.
If you’re going to consider dogs as a security measure, please consider the strict training and dog control necessary to make that a viable option. I love dogs and have had them most of my life. Along the way I’ve learned some lessons that dog owners should know.
One of the lessons is that German Shepherds bite more people than any other breed. They are great family dogs, but instinctively distrust anyone outside the family. This puts a special burden on the owner to rigorously train the animals to know when to attack and when not, and to strictly control the dog. That means keeping the dog confined or on a sturdy leash at ALL times.
I have been bitten three times in my life, twice were by german shepards, the other by one of those little yappy things, and none were on the owners’ properties. I have been threatened by other dogs, including german shepherds, a doberman and a pit bull, at other times, particularly when bike riding and running, but have been able to avoid being bitten by them.
This issue is of particular consequence to me now because a neighbor has a german shepherd that has attacked my dog twice on our property while he was tied up, nipped my wife once when she was on the road between our houses and threatened me on the same road. I have reported the dog to the local dog control official. She is diligent with her responsibilities, but can’t be everywhere all the time. The neighbor has learned to control the dog much more strictly now and we haven’t had a problem for a while.
I have zero tolerance for bad dogs and will take whatever measures are necessary, up to and including killing them, if I or my family is threatened. I understand that the term ‘bad dog’ should be ‘bad owner’ instead, but my options are more limited when it comes to people. Unfortunately, their dogs will suffer the consequence of their (owners’) negligence. And remember, when you invite people onto your property, you are responsible for your dog’s behavior toward the guest.
Doug
My front door lock busted the other night. It’s only 4 months old and the deadbolt is shot. You’d think these things last a while, like say, a few years, before wearing out, but nooooooooooooo…will be getting some backup locks this weekend at Home Depot.
Wow,Just saw the Boynton Beach burglary…hit home…my parents live there. My father and I have discussed his getting a gun but have been leaning against it because of age and some impairment. Those look like “juvies” …under 17, slap on the wrist time. I see these kids all the time at the mental health clinic. Reserve the cells in the county jail or regional prison. I hate to be cynical but the reality is…bad preteens become bad teens become bad adults. Looks like they had a crowbar…what if homeowner came home during invasion? What if armed/vs. not armed? Lots of variables here.
CS
Hi all,
Probably many of you have already read this, since it is almost three years old and in a web site that I’m sure many of you know. But anyway, I just came across this post and thought that you might find interesting to read it. Since I could be this flatlander the author talks about, I found it very educating.
Just let’s hope we never end in a Mad Max-like scenario that forces people to leave cities, like in de middle ages.
Néstor
Nestor
I’m curious to know more. How about a link?
Travlin
The link is right on. I have a lot of “hicks” in my family history and this assessment is very accurate. This is why Chris emphasizes the importance of community. It is the same message. It is not fool proof though. It takes a long time to be accepted, and there are bad apples everywhere.
Travlin
Check out this home invasion story from South Bend, IN. http://advancedsurvivalguide.com/?p=3817
Note in this home invasion story some of the usual dynamics are found again:
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The entry was through the front door, and it was not in the least difficult. Quick, easy, quiet. Your goal is to make it the opposite: slow, difficult (preferrably requiring tools) and loud.
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Multiple, armed invaders.
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Occupants caught completely off-guard, had no time to respond (but had no plan anyway).
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Without a decent plan, the man of the house reacted impulsively and attacked the invaders with a skillet, getting shot in the process.
Judging by the television news story, I conclude the home invaders were targeting the previous occupants of the home (who themselves had frequent calls to the house for police, and may have kept illegally gotten money and drugs in the home). The current occupants who were victimized had only lived there a short time and seemed to be average, law-abiding people. As I said in this post, it happens more than you might think that home invaders pick the wrong house or are completely wrong about the expected payoff in that their targets don’t have the valuables the robbers think they do. If it were me, before buying or renting a new place, I’d ask the local police about the history of the previous occupants. They can only give you general information, but if you had asked about this place I doubt you would’ve moved in. It’s not rocket science.
Ferfal weighs in again on the comparative advantages of being in a rural or urban situation when the SHTF (www.ferfal.blogspot.com). You have to weigh the pros and cons for yourself, but it is NOT the case that rural situations are obviously better than urban ones when crime explodes. It’s NOT obvious that rural is better, and it may not even be true. If we ever get to the point where armed, well-prepared gangs of criminals target rural homes and businesses, those who are targeted will find defense extremely challenging.
Home Invasion: Country vs. City after the Economic Collapse
This is one of those recurrent topics and I receive email asking about this very often.
Where will I fare better? What’s the safest place to be in as everything goes down?
Those of you that have been reading my blog for a while know where I stand. I don’t think an isolated homestead or farm is the best place to be in, and it certainly isn’t when crime becomes a real problem all across the country. In people’s minds, in their novels and fantasies thing may always work out just the way they want. It also helps that none of the things speculated in these fictional scenarios have ever occurred, at least not yet. A person can be so easily fooled into thinking that his retreat or homestead in any given US state is safe from looters and criminals because this or that “expert” claims so, the real reason why it´s been working well for any given period of time is that you’ve never actually had it put to test by your environment. Argentina puts you to test and that’s where suppositions, theories and wishful thinking crash against the cold hard reality.
The reason I’m revising this topic is because a friend of mine suffered an attack to his farm in just a couple days ago. He’s smart, successful, experienced, and a true survivalist in my opinion. You might remember the home invasion attempt my dentist suffered a while back. This friend of mine wasn’t that lucky. During the afternoon five men approached the housekeeper’s home and took the family hostage. Dogs barked but they moved fast. They used ski masks and gloves, armed of course, communicated with radio and were very professional. Right after reducing the housekeepers they quickly moved to the main building and took control of the main house. My friend wasn’t there with his wife and kids, it was occupied by other family members that where visiting. Being the smart person he is, that’s not his main residence and prefers to live in a gated community. As found on Wikipedia:
Since Buenos Aires has been traditionally regarded as a socially integrated city, gated communities have been the object of research by sociologists. Gated communities are an important way through which people – particularly middle and upper classes – cope with the high levels of violent criminal activity in Greater Buenos Aires.[9]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gated_community#United_States The home invaders went after the usual, money and jewelry. They also took his guns, gear, Bug out Bag among other items. On the bright side no one was hurt and that’s at least some good news. He wasn’t there at the time this happened and given the level of professionalism, I’d say they studied his movements for some time and waited until he left. Guys, we’re talking about a place that had people living in it, a family dedicated to keeping an eye on the place, and a dozen workers doing various jobs all across the estate. Unless you have dedicated security, all day long, all year long, its impossible to defend such a place. I’m not talking about your friend Joe coming over “when SHTF” or the guy next door pulling security. The guy next door will have to travel to Denver next week because of his job and uncle Joe will get bored of doing this after a couple weeks, or his wife will divorce him, moving to California with her new boyfriend and Joe following so as to at least be able to see his kids on weekends. That’s life. Counting on less than professional hired security for this on a long term basis is as serious as playing fort with your kid, shooting at each other with Nerf guns. Please do your research. Moving your family to a retreat in the sticks because its safer than cities would be a huge mistake, especially if that decision if ever put to test by real widespread high crime or anarchy events. Its not only Argentina. Look at Mexican retreats in druglord land across the American border, look at most South American countries with high levels of violent crime. Study South Africa’s white farmers and how they fared, even with hardened homes and hiring round the clock armed guards. Look at Bosnian farms and isolated houses during the beginning of the war, there’s lessons to be learned in all these scenarios and its historic, so you’re not basing your family’s well being on someone’s suppositions or fantasies, but on experience. Whatever decision you make regarding where you live, at least be honest with yourself and do it for the right reasons. A quick Pro and Con list for rural vs city would be: Pro: *Healthier lifestyle, fresh air, contact with nature. The calm, low stress lifestyle is one of the greatest advantages in my opinion. *More space for your projects, gardening and raising live stock. *Less likely to suffer opportunistic theft or vandalism incidents. *Having your own firearm shooting range in your back yard means you can practice more, though defensive training should be done with other people in a more competitive environment so as to increase the stress factor and be objective regarding your skills in comparison to others. *In a pandemic scenario, you’re safer if the disease is spread by contact with humans. Cons: *Unless you’re self-employed in a line of work that makes no difference where you’re located, you’ll have less job opportunities. In many cases, job offers may be non-existent. *Greater distance from hospitals. When needing immediate medical attention every second counts. The further away you are from advanced medical assistance your chances of survival are likewise reduced. This is an important factor, especially as you grow older. *You are further away from schools. While some people homeschool, during an economic down turn every family member will have to bring an income so as to sustain the family and homeschool may not be viable. Though some may not admit it to themselves, not all parents are skilled teachers either. *In a pandemic scenario, you’re much more exposed to diseases transmitted by animals (dengue, for example) since the fumigation and pest control efforts will be concentrated on the most populated areas. *If you have a job in a nearby city, chances are your commuting distance is now greater and you are more exposed to fluctuation of gas prices. *In terms of security, while you avoid certain types of crime, your isolation and lack of neighbors also means criminals can be more bold, spend more time during home invasions without fear of being detected and help arriving any time soon. The homestead will also have more appealing loot than an average downtown or suburban home, and the risk of getting caught while perpetrating the crime is also less, with less witnesses and cameras compromising the operation. FerFAL
It’s always helpful to have a plan, but I didn’t know it was so easy to break into a locked door! I knew most of the other tips though…I only have my windows open during the day when I’m home and awake and I make sure to check my mail at least every other day. The problem is that I live by myself in a rented apartment so I don’t want to spend any money on video surveillance, alarms, etc. I have been looking into a few home security systems though but most of them are really out of my budget. I used to have roommates but now that I live by myself I’ve been a little on edge. I know you said that burglars tend to break in when they suspect the people aren’t home but what if I was home, for example. Should I quietly try to sneak out of the house if I hear something or should I find out where the noise is coming from (and risk coming face to face with the burglar…) Please let me know! I figure if I’m ever put in that situation I’ll know what to do but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared!
Hi,I see you just joined and this is your first post. Welcome to the community!
- No, I would strongly suggest you come up with a plan for all conceivable situations in advance. People confronted by criminals often do things that surprise even themselves, and things they wish they had done differently (or not at all). Plan out your actions. Write them down. Rehearse it in your mind often. Practice anything that can be physically practiced (self-defense skills with or without weapons, accessing a hidden key, barricading a door, climbing out a second floor window onto a first floor roof to escape a fire or criminal, etc). The safest and wisest thing to do when you think an intruder is/might be in the apartment with you is to get outside and call 9-1-1. The same is true if you return home and have reasons to think somebody is in your place – don’t go in to confirm it, but call 9-1-1 from outside. Of course, running out and calling 9-1-1 is not so easy when the suspicious noise is between you and the only door out. Plan escapes from various places where you might find yourself inside considering the various places an intruder might be. Plan rooms and places to barricade yourself inside while dialing 9-1-1. The bathroom or bedroom might be your best place to retreat so plan how you’ll keep the intruder from getting through that flimsy interior door while calling for help. (If you think exterior doors are surprisingly easy to break in, you ought to see most “modern” interior doors! I’ve seen people punch through doors and kids break them off a hinge or two while simply playing.) Where’s your phone going to be? Do you have something always close at hand to barricade the door. (Whatever it is should be reachable and deployable while you’re holding the door closed. If you and the intruder are pushing on opposite sides of the door you can’t let go of the door to slide the dresser in front of it.) Are there any potential weapons in that room you’re going to barricade yourself inside of? I always carry a gun and my cell phone (and a few other small items) inside or outside the house until I lay down to sleep. That’s when I charge my phone on the stand next to the bed and place my gun there too (on a separate level, and always in the same two places so I’ll know exactly where each is in an emergency, in the dark). You may or may not carry a gun, but even if you don’t you probably carry a cell phone – so keep it on your person at all times. You’ll be very disappointed in yourself if you find yourself leaning against the bedroom door trying to keep intruders from getting to you and then realize you can’t call for help because your cell phone is somewhere on the other side of the door with the intruders! Why not place a baseball bat just inside your bedroom door and/or your bathroom door – just in case? Plan it out. And be realistic how long you’ll have to wait until help comes. It will not be measured in seconds. It’ll be 5-30 minutes. Make sure you plan to hold out that long.
- If your income is limited, your apt is modest and you don’t use or sell drugs, you’re very unlikely to be targeted by well-prepared and armed home invaders. This reduces the number and intensity of threats you will likely face. On the other hand, I find “Ease of entry” and “Convenience to the burglar” to be more powerful determinants of whose house/apt gets broken in to than “number of valuables” to be stolen. This is why more residences in poor, high crime neighborhoods get burglarized than in middle class, low crime neighborhoods. (Most burglars live in poor, high crime neighborhoods and victimize their neighbors because it’s easy and familiar, not the wealthier people 3 miles away where there’s more valuables and money to steal.) So, not being wealthy helps, but making your place clearly not easy to get into and out of without detection and apprehension is MORE important. One of the concepts for you to keep in mind is that the people who are most likely to break into your apartment are your neighbors in the other apartments in your building, so keep an eye on them (they’re certainly keeping an eye on you!). Plan to make their burglary as unprofitable as possible. Imagine them kicking in your door after they see you leave and spending 90 seconds in your place stealing stuff. Hide your valuables, even from people you invite into your apartment. Rig a battery operated alarm to sound 15 seconds after the door is opened (unless you deactivate it). And let the alarm go off “accidentally” every now and then, and sound for a few seconds so your neighbors will know they’ll have to deal with that if they break in. Always be alert and vigilant for people watching you or testing your defenses and awareness level. Potential burglars base part of their calculation about breaking into your place by observing YOU – if you are careful and alert, they’ll notice and assume your apartment has been set up to thwart crime in a careful and prepared manner.
- Defending you and your home while you’re home is much easier than equipping it to defend itself in your absence. For instance, you can buy or make (for less than $50) a brace or “Katy bar” to place against the inside of your exterior door(s) to make kicking it in difficult, slow and loud. I have two Katy bars on one of my exterior doors - I got the four steel braces at a hardware store for less than $7.00, some 3" screws for $2.50 and the wood was scrap. You can buy cheap battery-powered alarm devices that sound if a motion detector picks up motion or a window or door is moved. These devices aren’t connected to a monitoring company that calls the police, but the noise they make will give you a warning if you’re home and, even if you’re not home, they would probably be enough to scare away most burglars and cause the others to rush through your place looking for something quick and easy to take (rather than methodically tearing your place apart until they find your most valuables). Even if you’re absolutely flat broke, you can rig your doors and windows with common household items to make noise during an unauthorized entry attempt. In the movie “Conspiracy Theory” Mel Gibson’s paranoid cab driver character balances a glass soda bottle on top of the door knob on the inside of his apartment door. When intruders come looking for him, they turn the door knob causing the glass bottle to fall to the floor and shatter. The sound gives him a warning even though he’s in a different room and gives him time to respond. You don’t have to be paranoid and schizophrenic to come up with ideas like that – just determined to find a solution, creative and broke!
THC,
Another concept is the electronic rape sirens - they have a little lanyard loop then when disconnected from the body of the device, emits a horrid sound.
A few tacks, a bracket and a couple sheetrock screws and you could rig that up so that if someone tried to open a door, it’d disconnect and give you a really loud wake up call - in addition to the psychological impact of the thief’s cover being blown.
Some emit different sounds, and when coupled with different doors, give you a cheap way to identify where the incursion is coming from.
Just some thoughts.
Cheers,
Aaron
I would never say that the Philadelphia predators described in this newspaper article are the product of our deteriorating economy and society because I believe they are just modern urban predators (and apex predators at that). However, if you’re wondering what a worst case scenario in home invasion looks like, these guys are it. If you’re planning, training and equipping to prevent and defend against a home invasion or business robbery it would benefit you to study these guys (methods, psychology, weapons, targets, propensity for violence). Fortunately, gangs like this are relatively rare, even in Philadelphia. But if conditions across the country continue to deteriorate they will become more common and be found not just in major urban centers, but beyond also.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20110622_In_Philadelphia__bringing_to_justice_a_violent_band_of_criminals__running_roughshod_.html
From FerFAL’s blog “the modern survivalist” July 4, 2011
Posted by FerFAL on Jul 4, 2011 in home security | 1 comment
1. If you don't close your blinds at night, they love looking in your windows to spot an expensive flat screen TV, computer, video games, etc.
2. Most burglars get in a house through the back door. Keep that in mind and keep it locked up at all times
3. If you have a fancy alarm system, do not forget to set it at all times, even when you are at home
4. If you leave that window open just a little bit during those warm summer days to let fresh air in, that might be an invitation to a burglar to come in too
5. Stop announcing your vacations on Facebook, MySpace etc. It's very easy to locate your address and other personal information
6. Having a loud dog in your house is a good idea, even if you have a great alarm system installed
7. Having nosy neighbors next door can be a great thing also. Talk to your neighbors and agree on keeping an eye on each others homes
8. Burglars look for newspapers piled up on your driveway or might leave a flyer in your front door to see how long it takes you to remove it
9. They never go to kids rooms to look for valuable things, so it might be a good idea to hide some things there
10. If you have a safe in your room, you need to bolt it down, otherwise your burglars might take it with them, since they don't have time to break into it
11. If it snows while you are out of town, get a neighbor to create car tracks in your driveway
12. Burglars always knocks first, so answer the door at all times. Otherwise they can get in your house while you are in there - surprise, surprise! And it can be quite dangerous.
13. While on vacation, I would recommend to leave a few lights on in the house and may be a radio also. It can be a better deterrent than your alarm system.
14. Crooks try their best to never look like crooks. They can dress like a cable guy, a sales person with a clip board or be dressed like a lawn guy.
15. Don't ever leave your door unlocked even if you just go to pick up the mail or take a short walk. As sad as it sounds, some of the robbers occasionally hit the jack pot and walk right in.
joesxm2011 submitted this link which has four useful parts. I particularly like part 4 which shows a lucrative burglary from "an average" home in 3 minutes flat. It’s well worth watching because it emotionally and intellectually moves you to action, and gives you a visual image of what you’re trying to protect yourself and your home from. Make it harder on the burglars: time, difficulty, noise. If a criminal can commit a burglary in 3 minutes that will be faster than the police can respond to a burglar alarm (if you have one) in any community in about 98% of the instances. In fact, it would be common for the average burglar alarm monitoring service to be unable to run through their standard operating procedures when your alarm is violated and call the police in less than 3 minutes!
We have a plan… don’t own anything really valuable, and leave as much of a mess around as to confuse any burglar with where to start!
Mike 
[quote=DTM]
We have a plan… don’t own anything really valuable, and leave as much of a mess around as to confuse any burglar with where to start!
Mike [/quote]
Alright!! Finally, the up-side of my never done, never picked-up-enough home!!
…It’ a strategy…yeah, that’s the ticket!
i know this might be an offtopic but one way to protect yourself from crimes and anything bad that might happen to you is to use protective gear - bullet proof vest or any kind of body armor. this is just an addition =) thank you for this very informative article! good job
www.bulletproofvestshop.com/categories/Bullet-Proof-Vests-Body-Armors/